Wild Thing
by MissMadame2112
Summary: Nick Fury attempts to kill two birds with one stone by assigning Captain Rogers to learn about the history and pop culture he missed while in the ice with S.H.I.E.L.D's "problem child": bored-out-of-her-mind librarian Ella Gunther, devoted agent, troublemaker and oddball. Many fun adventures ensue.
1. Prologue

_**Hello! Just a quick note: This will most likely not be a CapxOC, since I like to keep things mostly canon and I heard Cap and Black Widow are getting together in the next film. This fic, depending on how long it is, may go through Winter Soldier and potentially Avengers 2. Enjoy! **_

_**Disclaimer: All characters and settings other than my OCs belong to Marvel. **_

July 10th, 2006

Eleanor Rae Gunther was a creepy person.

Director Fury trusted Val Gunther with secrets even some of Fury's top operatives didn't know, but he couldn't help but feel disconcerted as the tall, well dressed blond coaxed his sister into the office.

Ella Gunther was of average height, though she only came up to her brother's shoulder, and spindly build, her blonde hair puled into a tight bun. She looked as though her brother had dressed her, which he probably had. The business suit he had stuffed her into didn't suit her at all. Even Fury could see that. She hunched, closing in on herself, her eyes fixed firmly on the floor.

"Will you have a seat, Miss Gunther?" Director Fury waved to a seat in front of his desk.

She shuffled over and dropped into the chair, slumped down, her legs twisting around the legs of the chair. Val placed a hand on her shoulder and she straightened her posture and crossed her legs, a grimace on her face. There was a strange difference between brother and sister that Fury could not quite put a finger on.

"I understand that you majored in American History?" Fury said, flicking his gaze between the girl and her file.

"Mmmmmhmmm." Ella grunted.

Director Fury's eye traveled down the file as Val quietly snapped at his sister to be articulate. His eyes froze at "Mental Health".

_Suffered from Severe Depression _it read _4 months of therapy following suicide attempt. _

Fury closed his eye briefly. They could help her, of course. Many agents suffered from depression or PTSD. And she was certainly qualified. And she _was _Val Gunther's sister…

He opened his eye and shot his gaze at Val Gunther.

"And you're sure Miss Gunther is up for the job, Val?" he asked.

Out of his peripheral vision he caught Ella's withering glare for not being addressed herself.

"Absolutely, Director." Val said. His voice was crisp, clean.

_That _was the difference between Val and Ella, Fury decided. Val was clean and shiny, and (another quick look at Ella's file decided it) his sister was very, very messy.

Fury gave Ella a scrutinizing glare, and gave her the question the last librarian had failed to answer, causing a bomb to detonate and a team of 14 people to die.

"What candy bar is named after the daughter of President Cleveland?"

"Babe Ruth." Ella responded, almost automatically.

He hired her on the spot.

XXXX

May 6th, 2012. Two days after the battle of New York.

Fury stared at the footage from the containment chamber. A figure, blonde hair in braids, stood chatting with Loki, a bag of microwave popcorn in her arms.

"I got bored." She said, to answer Loki's question of why she was there. "And talking with psychos never fails to be amusing."

Loki attempted to threaten her, but she just shrugged and popped more popcorn into her mouth, occasionally throwing it at the glass that separated her and the war criminal.

Agent Hill sighed. "Ella doesn't have anything to _do, _Director. It's no wonder she gets into trouble. Nobody ever goes to the library. They just use iPhone. Google. We need something to keep her occupied."

Director Fury closed his eye, thinking back to the hellish day two days before, and one event popped into his brain.

"_Monkeys? I do not understand…" _

"_I do!" Captain Rogers cut Thor off. Everyone turned to look at him. Stark rolled his eyes. _

"_I…I understood that reference." _

Fury stared at the spindly figure onscreen.

"Cap needs to know more than flying monkeys." He said. "And I know just the person to teach him."

_**Review! How'd you like it? What do you think about the idea of Captain AmericaxBlack Widow? Review and tell me! **_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Hello. Today we get a proper introduction to Ella in her crazy goodness plus Steve's first appearance. Thanks to ninjaavengergal**_,___**Captainfancypant, Angi Marie, Bor Vampire, emc2fantasyfan, mamamittens and tula453 for your favorites, follows and reviews.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OC(s) **_

_May 7__th__, 2012_

"Thank you for coming Cap." Fury said, waving to the black and silver swivel chair in front of his desk.

"Is this about an assignment sir?" Rogers asked. He looked a bit distant, and Fury didn't blame him.

"I think you can take a break from helping us for a while." He said, placing his elbows on his desk and lacing his fingers together. "Now we're interested in helping _you." _

Rogers' eyebrows lowered over his eyes in confusion.

"Sir?'

Fury sighed. "To be comfortable in our society, we believe, we believe you will need you will need to get…updated a bit." '

Rogers looked unimpressed.

"Am I a little too old fashioned for this world sir?"

Fury shook his head. "Not you. Just your knowledge of the history and culture of the years you… missed out on."

Rogers raised an eyebrow.

"Why now?"

Fury leaned back in his chair.

"Rogers, I'm going to be honest with you. The woman you're working with, our librarian, she's…different. If S.H.I.E.L.D were a family, she, her name is Ella by the way, would be our problem child. And she. Is. Bored. We thought we'd kill two birds with one stone, that's all."

Rogers blinked, most likely shocked at the straight up honesty.

"Ok." He said. "Where do I need to go?"

"You're in the library. You'll find it."

XXX

Steve, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his brown leather jacket, strode down the hall, wondering where the library was.

"Excuse me?" He stopped a black-haired agent who was absorbed in her tablet. She looked up, an annoyed look on her face, at least until she saw who he was. "Where would I find the library?"

She laughed. "The library? Why'd you want to go to the library?" She leaned in conspiratorially, "Did Freaky Gunther bribe you?"

"Who?"

She blinked. "You know…Freaky Gunther. The librarian. Wild Thing Gunther."

"I just need to get to the library." Steve said, not liking the negative things he was hearing about a woman he had never met.

The Agent sighed and pointed down the hall.

"Third hallway on the right, all the way down. Door's spray-painted red. If I were you I'd just Google whatever it is your looking for."

"Google?"

But the Agent was walking away from him, reabsorbed into her tablet.

XXX

Steve opened the door of the library to be greeted by a wall of sound, a rare occurrence in a library.

_**YOU ARE THE DANCING QUEEN, YOUNG AND SWEET, ONLY SEVENTEEN…**_

__Steve covered his ears and hurried over to the boom box, which was shaking with the force of the music it was blasting.

_**YOU CAN DANCE. YOU CAN JI-HIVE. HAV-ING-THE-TIME-OF YOUR…**_

Steve punched the 'off' button, but a loud voice continued to sing at the back of the room.

"_Li-ife! Ooooo…" _The singing stopped abruptly, as if the singer had just realized her accompaniment was no longer blasting. A young woman appeared from around a bookcase.

She came up to Steve's shoulder. Her blonde hair was loosely caught up under a pink bandana, Rosie the Riveter style. She wore a short black dress, flats, and an orange sweater. In her hands she held a spray bottle and a rag.

"Hey buddy!" She yelled. "You here for a book?" She said it almost like she was dealing drugs.

"Director Fury sent me." Steve said, feeling distinctly awkward.

"Oh yeah." She blinked, set her spray bottle on a bookshelf, tossed her rag in the air and strode over, her hand outstretched. "Captain Rogers, right? Ella Gunther."

"Ma'am." Steve shook her hand.

"Plant you ass over there, soldier." She pointed to a small wood table with two chairs. It was painted a mish-mosh of reds, green, blues and yellow and covered with doodles in Sharpie. "I'm gonna grab some crap." She bounced over the counter of her circular desk and started rummaging.

Steve, still blushing from the lady's word choices, sat himself on her indicated chair and looked around. The library was carpeted with thin, faded blue carpet. The walls were grey and most likely soundproof, except for the far right wall, which was all glass panels, showing a lovely view of the clouds. Bookcases covered the back and part of the left wall, and three more jutted halfway out from the back. The rest of the room consisted of more tables like the one Steve was sitting at and Ella's circular desk.

"You want coffee?' Ella yelled.

Steve blinked, not sure if he should yell. He settled for a loud, "Yes please, ma'am."

"You like double espresso?"

"Just black, if you have it ma'am." He replied.

A few minutes later, Ella set a cup of coffee in front of Steve and sat down herself, throwing a cardboard box full of stuff down on the table. She sipped from her steaming cup.

"Double espresso is the drink of the gods." She said, her eyes closed." I have about three or four of these a day."  
Steve's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose at the mere idea of how much caffeine this woman consumed a day.

"So" She set her cup down and clapped her hands loudly, "70 years deep-frozen, they defrost you, get'cha to kick some Chitauri ass and then send you to me to learn all the crap you missed. That sound about right?"

Steve nodded slowly. "Seems right, ma'am."

"To be honest with you, I'm more concerned about the pop culture aspect, since my job is to make sure you're on the same page as everyone else. So I got'cha a schedule…" She grabbed a sheet of paper from the box and set it in front of Steve. Her nails were painted alternating lavender and olive green. Steve picked up his schedule, his eyes flicking from MONDAYS: MUSIC to the doodle of a duck in the upper right hand corner.

"So Mondays are for music, Tuesdays for movies, Wednesdays for TV shows, Thursdays are actual history and Fridays are for books. We get weekends off." Ella said, leaning over the table to point to each box on the schedule with her lavender painted index finger. She leaned back as she finished her introduction, a mischievous grin lighting up her face.

"This afternoon we'll get started with 50's music. This morning, we'll listen to Mamma Mia."

And so, within a span of under 10 minutes, the music was blasting again.

XXX

"So, how was Ella?" Fury asked.

He and Steve sat across from each other in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cafeteria.

"You weren't kidding." Steve said. "When you said she was…different."

Fury closed his eye. "Please tell me she let you turn down the volume on her boom box."

"Of course." Steve said, looking confused. "Why wouldn't she?"

Fury sighed in relief. "Good." He said. "That means she likes you."

Steve smiled slightly. "I think this arrangement will work out alright, Director."

He glanced at Ella across the cafeteria.

"How long has she had that sign?"

Fury almost laughed.

"Ella's been protesting ever since her first day when she found out the cafeteria doesn't serve pastries."

Ella sat on the other side of the cafeteria, eating a salad. Propped up on her table was a large, glittery pink sign, reading,

IF WE'RE COPS,

WHY DON'T WE GET

DOUGHNUTS?

_**Review? I love reviews. Reviews are my best friend. You all should review. **_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Hello lovely readers! Thank you so much to Hufflepuff Hex and LostGirlLover for your favorites and reviews. And now, we return to Steve and Ella. Let the chapter commence!**_

_**Disclaimer- I own not The Avengers or Casablanca**_

"So," Ella said, "For our first movie-to-catch-you-up-on-all-the-crap-you-missed, we're gonna watch…"

She held up a DVD case with a black and white cover showing a man in a trench coat and a beautiful woman.

"…Casablanca. I-swear-to-God the most quotable movie of all time other than Star Wars."

"Star Wars?" Steve asked sounding interested.

"'Nother time, sweetie. Now, I know this flick came out before you went in the ice, but, again, I swear-to-god there are so many quotes in here. It'll be good to refresh your memory."

Ella popped the movie into her laptop and pressed play, leaving the table quickly to shut off the library lights.

Steve's eyes were glued to the screen. He vaguely remembered the storyline from when he saw the movie over 70 years ago, and the sight of Humphrey Bogart brought back fond memories of his buddies who idolized the actor.

Occasionally he would glance at Ella,, whose lips were moving with those of the actors. She'd nudge him occasionally, indicating quotes to remember.

"_Play it Sam. Play, 'As Time Goes By.'"_

"_Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." _

"_Here's lookin' at you, kid." _

"_We'll always have Paris." _

"_Round up the usual suspects." _

"_Louis, I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." _

The screen dimmed and Ella pressed the eject button and the computer spat out the DVD.

"How'd you like it?" She asked.

Steve smiled slightly.

"My buddy Jack used to pretend he was Humphrey Bogart, from this movie. He'd dress up in a trench coat and fedora and try to pick up dames…" Steve winced, "I mean women."

The last time he made that mistake was with Peggy.

Ella laughed.

"You should use 40s slang more often." She said. "It's cute."

"So," Ella asked, leaning back in her chair, "What did you do, y'know, before you were Super-Soldier-ifyed?"

Steve blinked.

"I was in art school." He said. His brow furrowed. "It seems like so long ago."

"I _was _long ago." Ella said. "70 years in the ice, remember?"

"Yeah."

"So. Art school, huh." Ella said, breaking the awkward silence. "My best friend works for the Museum of Modern Art. As a matter of fact…" Ella checked her watch, bright green strap with roman numerals around the clock face. "I'm supposed to meet Rosie for lunch. Wanna come?"

Steve stood. "I wouldn't want to intrude, ma'am."

Ella rolled her eyes.

"Come on, it'll be fun. You might as well meet her, she hangs around here all the time."

Steve only had enough time to grab his jacket as Ella dragged him out to the library.

"If you really feel bad about intruding," Ella joked, "You can always pick up the check."

XXX

The waitress working the lunchtime shift at The Jungle, a small café with hardwood floors, turquoise walls (which matched the waitress's shirt: a pleasant coincidence), hanging plants and all natural, locally grown vegan food, was a 19-year-old college sophomore by the name of Sadie.

She leaned against the hostess's podium, braiding a small section of long brown hair out of sheer boredom, occasionally listening in on the mind-numbing conversation being held by the café's only patrons, a pair of businessmen in the corner.

The bells above the door tinkled and a blonde woman, The Jungle's number one customer, entered, a tall man in a brown jacket with dirty blonde hair in an old fashioned haircut following her.

"Hey Ella." Sadie said, before her eyes widened and flicked over the hunk of manliness Ella had brought with her.

Sadie caught Ella's eye and raised an eyebrow.

"Will Rose be, um, joining you two?"

"Yep." Ella answered.

Sadie led them to Rosie and Ella's favorite 4-person table by the window.

"So, where'd you two meet?" Sadie asked, pouring them both waters while simultaneously trying to figure out how Ella got a guy. Especially a _fine _one like that.

"Oh, we're not dating." Ella said, and Sadie's day suddenly looked better.

"Oh." She said, and smoothly extended her hand towards Ella's beautiful not-date. "I'm Sadie."

"Steve." Steve shook the thin, tan, straight-haired waitress's hand. Her nails were carefully painted purple with little stick on diamonds, very different from Ella's sloppy lavender and olive ones. The handshake lingered, mostly on Sadie's side, until Steve coughed uncomfortably and gently tugged his hand away.

Sadie snapped back to attention, briefly noting Ella looked ready to bust up laughing.

"Any drinks for you folks?"

Steve declined. Ella ordered a Coke.

As Sadie walked away, she glanced quickly over her shoulder, just to check to see if Steve was watching her, but his gaze was unfortunately fixed firmly on his water. She sighed and told herself once again that there were other fish in the sea.

As soon as Sadie was gone, Ella started loudly cracking up.

One of the businessmen in the corner looked at her, eyebrows raised in alarm, but he soon relaxed and went back to his sandwich.

"What?" Steve asked, slightly shocked by the volume and intensity of Ella's laughter. "What's so funny?"

"She was flirting with you, Steve, you moron!" Ella doubled over, still consumed with laughter.

Steve's brow furrowed and he glanced at the kitchen door where Sadie had disappeared.

"She seemed nice." He said.

"She's 19."

Steve choked on his water.

"Bit of an age difference." He gasped after a short coughing fit.

Ella rolled her eyes. "I think you'll want to date a bit young, unless you want to take out a 90 year old woman."

Steve blushed.

Ella leaned back in her chair, draping on arm over the back of the chair and and raising her glass of water with the other.

"A toast," She said, "Here's looking at you, kid."

"I'm older than _you _too."

"Shut it Gramps."

_**In response to a review, I adore long reviews. And short reviews. And reviews in general! Please? **_


	4. Chapter 3

_**Hwy there. Sorry it's been so long updating, but I've been practicing my procrastination skills. Thank you to **_Rosellia of Lunaris, Creative Lunatic, Ninjaavengergal, Lucid Lady_**,**_ The Dark Lady55, Lozza666, Sargerogue, Amira Lex, Sammisis, ElectricAnya, LHNT. RavenRedSea, Avis11, winchesterxgirl, advenlitgirl, CreativeChica39, dragonlover925, Cheshire417, and abc11111 _**for your favorites, follows and reviews. And now, the chapter!**_

"Ella, you didn't tell me you were bringing a _man _along." Rosie said, playfully batting her long eyelashes at Steve before smoothly seating herself next to Ella.

Rosie Imara was a willowy woman with chocolaty skin and curly, coppery hair, which radiated out from her head like the sun's rays in a five-year-old's drawing. She wore a creamy white blouse, a flowing, warmly colored skirt and an aura of warm southern charm. She grew up in Birmingham and the accent lingered in her voice.

"Ma'am." Steve smiled and nodded to her.

"Ooo, he's _polite, _too. I think you've got yourself a keeper Miss Ella." Rosie said, winking at Ella.

Steve went red. "We're not...we don't..."

Rosie laughed and flapped her hand, non-verbally telling Steve to shut up.

"I'm just messing with ya. I know who you are. Captain America! Leader of the Avengers and Miss Ella's lowly pupil."

Steve blushed. "I…I don't actually _lead _the Avengers…"

Ella rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Steve. Everyone knows you're the natural leader, the tactician. You know, I can admire that, using your brain to fight armies." She smiled. "You know, I once fought a guy using only knowledge."

Rosie rolled her eyes. "Ella, you hit a poor, innocent agent over the head with an encyclopedia. I don't think that counts."

Ella pouted. "Yes it does! And he wasn't innocent; he was lurking near my Shakespeare collection. I was defending Othello."

Steve gulped water hastily to avoid laughing. No wonder nobody went to the library, if they were being attacked by a rabid librarian protecting her literary children every time they got too close to the shelves.

Sadie reappeared at their table.

"Hey Rosie." She said, now chomping on a newly acquired piece of gum. She set a Coke down in front of Ella and a glass of iced tea in front of Rosie. "Your usual."

Sadie straightened and whipped a black notebook out of her black waitresses apron.

"I'll assume the usual for Ella and Rosie," She turned her gaze to Steve. "You?"

Steve ordered and Sadie left again.

"So, Steve," Rosie said, fixing her warm brown gaze on Steve. "Ella told me you were in art school before the big freeze. I'd love to see some of your work."

Steve blinked. "Ok. I have my sketchbook with me, actually."

"Ooooo." Ella's eyes widened and leaned over the table. "Let's see."

Steve leaned over and pulled his sketchbook out of his satchel and opened it to the sketch he had finished the day before the Battle of New York.

Rosie traced her manicured fingers across the sketch of buildings stretching up across the page.

"These are good. It's nice to see some good realism." She said. "Ella has more of a passion for the abstract." She jerked her head at the blonde librarian and rolled her eyes.

"Nothing like some good splatter art to vent some anger." Ella said nonchalantly, shrugging.

Steve's eyes flicked to the paint on her nails and wondered if that was how she did her fingernails.

"You should visit the museum sometime." Rose said, giving Steve a smile. "We have some great workshops…I mean, if you have the time."

"You know, cause you're a mighty Avenger." Ella said.

Steve nodded. "I'd love to ma'am."

Sadie was back with Ella's meal.

"So, Rosie, " Sadie said, leaning across the table to hand Ella her dish, "How's the boyfriend?"

Rosie smiled. "Ethan's fine. We just had our three year anniversary."

"When are you two getting married?" Ella asked. "You're practically engaged already, all you need is a rock."

Rosie blushed. "Ethan wants to take it slow."

Sadie and Ella exchanged exasperated glances and Sadie reached into her pocket, pulling out a deck of cards.

"Your trivia." She placed the cards on Rosie's placemat and went to give the businessmen in the corner their bill.

Both Ella and Rosie's eyes lit up, and Ella fixed Steve with a mischievous grin.

"It's my second day!" HE protested.

Ella's grin widened.

"Not to worry, Cap." She said, "We'll keep it easy."

She whipped a card out of the pack and held it up, cupping her other hand around the back of the card, obscuring the answers.

The question frazzled Steve's brain, and he forgot it the second it was spoken. He gulped, but Rosie answered coolly.

"Correct."

Now Rosie selected a card.

"A history question for the Captain." She glanced at the question. Her eyes widened.

"What is it?" Ella leaned over to look at the card, sucking on her Coke through a straw. She choked on her soda when she saw the question and burst into peals of laughter.

"What is it?" Steve asked.

Rosie calmed her giggles.

"What was the real name of the infamous World War II icon Captain America?"

Steve smiled. "I think that would be Steve Roger. Me."

_**Aw, you want to review? Go right ahead! Also if anyone has ideas for situations for Ella, Cap and maybe Rosie to get into, feel free to tell me in a review or a PM. I have a plot outline, but just for big plot points, so I'd love ideas!**_


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